Grains of Sand

Google Images Lord, put a clip on my lip! The religious leaders of Jesus’ day had no idea how much grief they were heaping upon themselves when they criticized the Lord. In Matthew 12 we find one of the many examples of the head-on collisions that often took place between Jesus and those who haunted his steps looking for a excuse to marginalize Him. Jesus did miracles and they accused Him of doing those miracles through the power of Satan (12:24). This particular conversation led the Lord to remark: “ Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit ” (12:33). The evilness of the remarks made by the Pharisees was proof of how bad the “tree” was. Out of their mouths came what was in their hearts and Jesus warned them that all those words would condemn them one day (12:37). The New International Version calls such words, “empty.” The King James Version uses the word, “idle.” One of the meanings given for ...

“ But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken ” –Matthew 12:36, NIV. I’ve been reading The White Rose by Inge Scholl which recounts the story of Sophie and Hans Scholl who were decapitated by the Nazis in 1943 for resisting the direction in which their country was going under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. At the time they were students and their protest consisted mainly in the publishing and distribution of leaflets decrying the actions of the Fascists. The group was never big–a half dozen or so–but obviously their written words were a thorn in the flesh to the regime. As I read the verse for this morning and the context surrounding it I thought of the consequences that the words of these students had during that terrible time. Their words were not careless by any means. Sophie and Hans were deeply religious. They knew that what their country was seeing and experiencing was wrong and were driven to find a...

Today is Word-Filled Wednesday. For more pictures and the words from THE Word, visit Penny at Pennyraine , our gracious hostess for this week. My fridge produces only green apples, but I pray that my words, spoken, written, or lived, will be what Proverbs 25:11 describes: " A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. "

He who opens his mouth is sure to put his foot in it. We laugh, perhaps a little sheepishly. Who hasn't spoken without thinking (or after thinking) and said something that he later wished he could take back. It seems that what comes out of our mouths is no laughing matter to God. Jesus said: " But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken " —Matthew 12:36. What grabs my attention here is the context surrounding His words. He had just finished calling the Pharisees a " brood of vipers " (12:34) for the evil that they continually spoke. I can understand that evil words will be judged. That makes perfectly good sense. But what I take note of is that the Lord didn't say only our evil words would be judged, He made a point of saying that our careless words would be judged. My online dictionary describes " careless " as: not giving sufficient attention or thought to avoiding harm o...